Flickr Photos

Meta

Archive for December, 2008

I was perusing some of my pics from the 2008 Oregon Country Fair this past July. With all of the press President Bush has been getting lately (dodging shoes) – this image gave me a laugh.

What I really liked about this image was the setting. I took the shot as I was walking along a random trail in the woods at the Country fair. Someone had tacked this small print to the side of a tree stump. I stopped only for a few seconds to snap the shot and then moved on, not thinking much about it. When I reviewed my shots later on I realized that I liked this one.

A few days ago I headed out for a 6 miler at my normal pace (8:30). After the first mile I was warmed up pretty well so I decided to try adding some speed training (also referred to as a “Fartlek” – which is a Swedish word meaning “speed Play”) into my run. I’ve never really incorporated speed training before so this was a new thing for me. One of my primary training goals is to improve both my speed and endurance before I run my next marathon – hopefully in the Spring.

So in mile 2, I kicked my pace up a few notches for a short distance – kind of like a sprint but not top speed. When my heart rate hit a reasonably high level I slowed down to my normal pace for a minute or two, then repeated that process a few times. In mile 3, I did the same thing, but since I was feeling pretty strong I went for shorter distances but at a full out sprint. I repeated this in mile 4, but by this time I was getting pretty tired and my legs were pretty spent.

It felt great to run fast! I hadn’t done that much sprinting since playing on a mens indoor soccer team a few years ago. It was obvious that my body wasn’t used to it either because the following day I was pretty sore. My plan is to add this type of activity into my runs at least once per week through this winter and early spring. I’m hoping to shave 33 minutes off my marathon time and finish in under 4 hours.